In spiral imaging, it is important to have an accurate estimate of the k-space trajectory. Some approaches exist for estimating the distortion of a prescribed spiral gradient waveform by eddy currents and other hardware factors. [1-4]. Many of these methods focus on spiral gradient echo acquisitions, where the phase introduced by the spiral gradients is relatively isolated between readouts. Spiral echo train imaging is a more complicated case, because errors introduced by the spiral gradients have the potential to build up during the echo train. This can cause difficulties for independently measuring the spiral k-space trajectories for each echo using conventional k-space measurement techniques.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the various aspects of the disclosed technology as described below are presented.